Durango Casino and Resort to open in November

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Durango Casino & Resort, Station Casinos’ latest hotel-casino under development in the southwest valley, is expected to open Monday, Nov. 20, executives announced during an earnings call for parent company Red Rock Resorts on Thursday.

Located on South Durango Drive near the Clark County 215 beltway, the resort will feature 200 hotel rooms, convention and meeting space, a resort pool, outdoor social areas and free parking. The $780 million project is expected to be the only unrestricted gaming property in a five-mile radius and is in one of the fastest-growing areas of the Las Vegas Valley.

Board of Directors Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta said the public can expect a full-fledged grand opening.

“When we open properties, every aspect of the property is open, ready to go,” Fertitta said. “We’ll open the doors and let her rip for the customers.”

The opening date – pending regulatory approval – will come only a few days after the Las Vegas Strip is expected to be flooded with visitors in town for the Formula One Grand Prix. The main event race will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18.

The announcement came hours before the company officially lights up Durango’s marquee at an event Thursday night. The 130 foot-tall LED sign will broadcast the resort’s opening announcement to drivers on the 215. With about 100 days until Durango’s opening, executives said they’ve begun hiring through an internal recruitment campaign and plan to kick off external hiring on Aug. 14.

Scott Kreeger, president of Red Rock Resorts, said the company has been conscientious of how they’ll hire the roughly 1,500 jobs needed to staff the resort.

“We knew this was coming and we got ahead of this probably well over a year ago,” Kreeger said. “We had competitive wages and benefits. They’re not to be completely immune to other factors. We do have Fontainebleau coming online, we do have the Sphere coming online, so there is a competitive market out there, but we think we’re going to compete really well.”

Investor analysts on the earnings call asked the company executives if a phase two expansion of the property is still in consideration. Fertitta said one is in the planning phase and would likely add gaming capacity and more entertainment options, but that breaking ground on such an expansion depends on the company’s finances at the time.

The company is also working on plans and entitlements for a project in Henderson’s Inspirada community, Fertitta said.

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com.@mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.